Reel



J. A. RUZGA April 24, 1951 REEL Fviled March 22, 1947 N GP5 km. \Nl.

/NVENTOR 51;::1- 1- Tm JA. RUZGA BV I ATTORNEY pads.

satented pr. 24, 195i UNITED, STATES ??ATENT OFFICE Y u l Y2,550,604 YREEL` Joseph A. Ruzga, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Western ElectricCompany, Incorporated, New

, York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 22, 1947,Serial No. 736,530

1 Claim. (C1. 242-124) This invention relates to reels, and moreparticularly to reels for holding pads of metallic tapes while the tapesare annealed.

In the manufacture of coaxial cables, tapes of ceppo): aresometimesformed into tubes over core units f such cables to form the outerconductors. O f the. Cables. In order to obtain the proper electricalcharacteristics of such outer conductors, it is essential that thecopper tapes be unfcrm in thickness throughout their lengths, and thisis often accomplished by rolling or drawing semi-finished tapes.However, such working of the tapes sets up permanent strains in thetapes, `thereby decreasing the formability of the tapes.- Ijlence, thetapes must be annealed to relievethese strains. In the past, there hasbeen no suitable apparatus for handling pads of such tape while theyarel annealed without damaging the tapes and without a large degree o-fmanual handling'of the tapes and miscellaneous hoisting equipment.

An object of the invention is to provide new and improved reels.

A further object of the invention is to prolvide new'and improved reelsfor holding a multitudeff pads of copper tape to beA annealed in spacedrelationship thereon, to present as much surface area of the padsdirectly to annealing gases, and to facilitate handling of the pads.

A ree1 illustrating certain features of the invention includes an arbor,a wheel-like reel head fixed to one end of the arbor, and a secondwheellike reel head mounted detachably on and keyed thereof, when readin conjunction with the appended drawing, in which;

Fig. 1 is an elevation of a reel illustrating certain features of theinvention with portions thereof broken away, and

Fig. 2 is an end view of the reel with portions thereof broken away.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, there is shown therein a reelfor holding pads Ill- I0 of copper tapes to beannealed, which pads areformed by winding the copper tapes upon collars II-II, which projectbeyond the sides o-f the The reel includes a solid arbor I2 on an end ofwhich an open, spoked, reel head I3 is integrally formed. The reel headI3 is cast integrally with the arbor, and includes a hub portion I4, aplurality of spokes I5--I5 and a rim I6. The arbor is provided with abore 20 in the end 2 thereof opposite to that to which the reel head Iis formed, and a stud 2| is fastened to the arbor I2 by pins 22-22. Thearbor is provided with a semi-annular slot 23 into which fits asemi-annular key 24 of a hub 25 formed integrally with an open, spokedreel head 3B. The right .end of the huh 25, as viewed in Fig. 1, iscomplementary to the left end of the arbor I2, and interlocks therewithto prevent relative rotation between the reel head 30 and the arbor,thereby positively preventing relative rotation between the two reelheads. A nut 3l is designed to be threaded on an elongated threadedportion 32 of the bolt to secure the reel head 3o ininterlockingengagement with the arbor I2. The reel head 3Q is provided with spokes33-33 and a rim 34.

The collars II-II on which are formed the pads I il-Ill t slidably onthe arbor I2 to mount the pads on the arbor. Branched spacers 35-35positioned between shoulders 36 and 31 formed on the reel heads I3 and30, respectively, and the end ones of the pads Ill-I0 serve to space theend pads from the reel heads. Branched spacers 40-40 identical with thespacers 35--35 but considerably thicker than the spacers 35-35 areinterleaved with the pads I-Ill and space the pads from each other. Thespacers 40--40 are made up of L-shaped bars 4I4I which are rigidlyfastened to each other at bases 42--42 thereof, as illustrated moreclearly in Fig. 2, and are also rigidly fastened to hubs 43-43. The hubs43-43 are designed to t slidably over the arbor I2 and project beyondthe edges of the bars II- 4I to engage the collars II-II so that, unlessslippage between the convolutions of tapes of the pads occur, there isno contact between the tape and the bars. If such slippage occurs inmoving the reel, the bars limit it to a small amount, thereby insuringthat the pads will not fall apart.

In the operation of the reel described hereinabove, the reel ispositioned with the arbor I 2 upright. One of the thin spacers is slidover the arbor, and the pads Ill- I0 and the thick spacers 40e-III) areplaced upon the arbor one at a time with the spacers 40-40 between thepads. One of the spacers 35-35 then is placed on the arbor next to theleft hand pad, as viewed in Fig. 1. The reel head 30 is fitted over thestud 2|, and is moved into interlocking engagement with the arbor I2,after which the nut 3I is threaded on the stud 2|. The filled reel thenmay be tilted to rest upon the rims I6 and 34 of the reel heads I3 and30, respectively, and be easily rolled into an annealing furnace. Thediameter of the reel heads is greater than that of the pads Ill-I0 sothat the pads are not damaged by contact with a floor or the like alongwhich the reel is rolled. Since relative rotation between the reel headsis prevented, the reel may be easily rolled in desired directions. Sincethe faces of the pads are substantially uncovered they are-subjected todirect contact with annealing gases as well as the peripheries thereof,and the wide spacing of the pads on the reel facilitates circulation ofannealing gases therebetween. After the pads l0--l0 have been annealed,they are removed from the annealing oven, the reel head 30 is removedfrom the arbor I2 and the pads Ill- I0 are removed. y

The above-described reel serves to handle large numbers of pads Ill-I0of tape in a facile manner without damage thereto during handlingoperations of the pads and the reel. The reel also provides large areasof the pads IIJ-I0 to be contacted by annealing gases so that theannealing thereto may be very uniform from the inner peripheries of thepads to the outer peripheries thereof and may be completed relativelyquickly with annealing gas at a lower temperature than has heretoforebeen possible to use. In addition to the foregoing advantages, the reelmay be rapidly assembled and disassembled` With little effort, and holdsthe convolutions of tape of each pad together.

What is claimed is:

A reel for holding pads of metallic tapes to be annealed, whichcomprises a drum, a head fixed to one end of the drum, a second headdesigned to be secured to the other end of the drum, said second reelhead and said drum being designed to interlock to prevent relativerotation therebetween, and a plurality of spacers designed to t overvtheV drum, each of said spacers being provided with a plurality ofdivergent arms for contacting relatively small areas of the faces of thepads and a hub from which the arms extend substantially radially, saidhubs projecting beyond the arms to contact the pads to tend to holdVpads of tapes positioned on the drum out of engagement with the arms.

JOSEPH A. RUZGA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references vare of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 932,081 Woodworth Aug. 24, 19091,020,078 Broden etal. Mar. '12, 1912 1,103,519 Lachman July 14, 19141,461,736 Prentiss July 17, 1923 1,555,751 ONeil Sept. 29, 19252,001,780 Fry May 21, 1935 2,062,016 Serrurier Nov. 24, 1936

